Substrate in quarantine tanks, or not?

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Which do you do, or recommend?

At the moment, my three QT tanks are bare bottom. I'm definitely adding some sand and hardscape/plants to the 15L shrimp tank since they'll likely stay in there so they can grow up and hopefully breed like mad with no fish to eat shrimplets.

Have seen a lot of people advise and keep their quarantine tanks bare bottom so they can see if there's anything like worms appearing. But I QT for a month, don't want the fish to be stressed, and kinda want to plant some of the plants so they can help with water quality, and less disorienting for the fish if they have substrate. Especially since it's mainly plecs, pygmy cories, and a hoplo. I certainly have spare sand! Needs a good clean though.

What do you guys do for QT tanks?

 

[AJ356]

I don't believe in bare bottom tanks for any purpose. Too stressful for the fish. QT should be least stressful as possible, but still easy to observe the fish. I vote substrate

 

[Essjay]

I seem to remember Byron saying that substrate, even just a few grains thick, is important as it stops the fish seeing their reflections.


{I have just realised that we can no longer use Search with Byron as the member who posted so I can't find what he said )

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I seem to remember Byron saying that substrate, even just a few grains thick, is important as it stops the fish seeing their reflections.


{I have just realised that we can no longer use Search with Byron as the member who posted so I can't find what he said )

I miss him too. It's like a gut punch every time I think of him.

Yes, I remember he preferred some substrate of some kind, and I'm leaning that way too!

 

[Naughts]

I just use a scoop of play sand to make the thinnest layer and hide the glass/ reflection. Cheap and cheerful, after use I throw it out.

 

[Coryking]

Odd suggestion could you lay a sheet of non reflective plastic or other substance in the bottom of the tank to keep the benefits of a bare bottom tank without any reflection

 

[gwand]

My QT tank has substrate, cholla and a few plants. I want my new arrivals to be as comfortable as possible.

 

[GaryE]

I'm of the thin layer of sand persuasion. It isn't a big loss if it has to go into the garden, but it does calm the fish. A lot of QT tanks stress the fish, and are as bad as pet store tanks.
My best QT tanks are planted and have a full substrate, because I rarely need to worm fish. I usually have the QT become the permanent home, and go from there. That's a joy of a multi-tank set up.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I put the 22g QT tank on the floor, and regretting it now, so already planning where to move it to, and how to do it with minimum stress to new fish.

 

[sharkweek178]

I just use play sand. It's cheap enough to discard after the end of the quarantine.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have argos playsand too, two bags of it! Time to get it out of the shed!

 

[Colin_T]

We had bare bottom tanks in the quarantine facilities at the shops but we had to by law.

At home add a thin layer of sand or gravel. You only need enough to stop the fish seeing their reflections on the bottom. Have some plants in the tank and if you are quarantining catfish, add pieces of pvc pipe or something that's easy to clean but provides hiding places. Have a picture on the back of the tank, and a cover to stop them jumping out.

 

[sharkweek178]

We had bare bottom tanks in the quarantine facilities at the shops but we had to by law.

At home add a thin layer of sand or gravel. You only need enough to stop the fish seeing their reflections on the bottom. Have some plants in the tank and if you are quarantining catfish, add pieces of pvc pipe or something that's easy to clean but provides hiding places. Have a picture on the back of the tank, and a cover to stop them jumping out.

I use plastic plants. It gives the fish something to explore or hide in and is easier to disinfect after the quarantine. And something like hornwort or anacharis, that I don't mind just throwing away after.

 

[jaylach]

I would do a very lite covering of sand which seems to be the consensus. I would go very thin. A quarter inch could be considered heavy for this, mayhaps an sixteenth inch or less. Would just want to fully cover the tank bottom with no real depth.

Plants were also mentioned and I would consider this fine especially if live which may seem to argue the thin substrate but does not. I would go with Java Fern and Anubias either attached to rocks or, better yet, something like stainless steel. Mayhaps a little bit of floaters. If rocks I would want them smooth for the same reason I would want just a thin substrate. May not be as much of a deal with a quarantine for new fish but could be if a sick fish is being quarantined. I may be wrong here but I would think that, especially with a sick fish, a decent depth of substrate and/or porous rocks, such as lava rock, could end up being a breeding place for bad bacteria and/or parasites that may be the cause of the fish being ill. If artificial plants were to be used I think that I would stay from silk plants as I would think they could also be a breeding area for bacteria and parasites due to the same porosity issue.

 

[Fishfunn]

My QT tank has substrate, cholla and a few plants. I want my new arrivals to be as comfortable as possible.

If I am only treating for two weeks max, a 5 gallon bucket is wonderful.